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Through a Mother’s Eyes: Sources of Bias When Mothers with Co-occurring Disorders Assess Their Children

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Abstract

Mothers are the principal informants on children’s emotional and behavioral functioning. Maternal assessments of child functioning can be influenced by a mother’s own psychological state. The magnitude and valence of distortion in maternal assessments associated with current maternal mental health and substance abuse symptoms were explored in a clinical sample of 253 mothers with co-occurring disorders and histories of trauma. Analyses estimated the correlation between current maternal symptoms and child assessments after controlling for maternal history of disorders, child’s history of service utilization for emotional and behavioral problems, and demographic characteristics. Current maternal psychological distress was associated with more pessimistic assessments on the problem-focused Child Behavior Checklist, whereas current maternal substance abuse problems were associated with more optimistic assessments on both problem-focused and strength-based measures. Clinicians and researchers may choose to take distortion into account when treatment plans or measures of change are based on maternal assessments.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Margaret Gatz for her helpful comments and suggestions on this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Reserach on Crime and Social Control (formerly Social Science Research Institute), Psychology Department, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-0375, USA

    Karen M. Hennigan PhD

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  1. Karen M. Hennigan PhD
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  2. Maura O’Keefe PhD
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  3. Chanson D. Noether MA
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  4. Deborah J. Rinehart MA
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  5. Lisa A. Russell PhD
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Correspondence to Karen M. Hennigan PhD.

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Karen Hennigan, PhD, Center for Research on Crime and Social Control (formerly Social Science Research Institute) Psychology Department, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0375.

Maura O’Keefe, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089

Chanson D. Noether, MA, Policy Research Associates, Inc., Delmar, NY 12054.

Deborah J. Rinehart, MA, Colorado Social Research Associates, Thornton, CO.

Lisa A. Russell, PhD, ETR Associates, Scotts Valley, CA 95066.

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Hennigan, K.M., O’Keefe, M., Noether, C.D. et al. Through a Mother’s Eyes: Sources of Bias When Mothers with Co-occurring Disorders Assess Their Children. JBHSR 33, 87–104 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-005-9005-z

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